8FLAG DV
Free Legal Advice Group
for Domestic Violence
TRUSTEE
ANNUAL
REPORT 2022
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## **TABLE OF CONTENTS**
|**TABLE OF CONTENTS**|||
|---|---|---|
|Legal and Administrative Information|3||
|Report of the Management Committee FINANCIAL SUMMARY|4||
|Our Aims and Objectives||4|
|Ensuring our work delivers our aims||4|
|The focus of our work||4|
|How our activities deliver public benefit||5|
|Activities in the year to June 2022||5|
|Balance Sheet|7||
|Financial Review|10||
|Statement of Trustees' responsibilities||10|
|INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT|12||
|Independent examiner's report to the trustees of FLAG DV ('the Company')||12|
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## **LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION**
## **Reference and Administrative Information:**
**Charity Name:** Free Legal Advice Group for Domestic Violence Charity **Registration number:** 1154070
## **Registered Office and operational address:**
Broadway House The Broadway Newbury Berkshire RG14 1BA
## **Trustees**
C. Capel I. Skapin Osborne S. Burke I. Summers
A. Collins
A Barguss - resigned May 2022 J McIntyre - resigned June 2022
## **Senior Management Team**
Laura Hunter – Chief Executive Lynne Cumming – Head of Operations Colline Watts – Finance Officer
**Bankers:** HSBC 6 Northbrook St Newbury Berkshire RG14 1DJ **Auditors:** EJBC 2, Toomers Wharf, Canal Walk, Newbury RG14 1DY
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## **REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL SUMMARY**
## **Our Aims and Objectives**
Our charity’s purpose as set out in the objects contained in the company’s memorandum of association: _To relieve the needs of people who experience domestic abuse by providing access to free legal advice and support to empower them to make informed to safely leave the abuse._
Our mission is to support and empower those who have experienced domestic abuse by providing them with free, confidential family law legal advice. We strive to raise awareness of their legal rights and options. We endeavour to work in collaboration with other organisations and government agencies to ensure that domestic abuse victims have access to the resources and support they need to make informed choices about escaping abuse and rebuilding their lives.
## **Ensuring our work delivers our aims**
We review our aims, objectives and activities each year. This review looks at what we achieved and the outcomes of our work in the previous 12 months. The review looks at the success of each key activity and the benefits they have brought to those groups of people we are set up to help. The review also helps us ensure our aim, objectives and activities remained focused on our stated purposes. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aim and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.
## **The focus of our work**
Our main objectives for the year continue to be to provide access to free legal advice appointments to those experiencing domestic abuse in Thames Valley. The strategies we used to meet these objectives include;
- Establishing a network of trained legal professionals who can provide free, confidential family law advice to those who have experienced domestic abuse.
- Raising awareness among domestic abuse victims of their legal rights and options, and to help them understand the legal process within any family law proceedings.
- Working with local resources and organisations, building community links and strengthening networking relationships, to raise awareness about domestic abuse within those organisations and to build on the support offered to those who have experienced abuse.
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- Advocating for policy changes and legal reforms that will improve the rights and protections of domestic abuse victims through our work.
## **How our activities deliver public benefit**
Our charity's mission to provide legal advice and support to domestic abuse victims delivers public benefit by empowering individuals to take control of their lives and break the cycle of abuse. Through our activities, we help victims to access the justice system, obtain protection orders, and secure safe and stable living arrangements for themselves and their children. Our services also raise awareness about domestic abuse and provide the wider public with a better understanding of the resources available to victims, further reducing the stigma associated with this important issue. By delivering these outcomes, our charity makes a positive and meaningful impact on the lives of those we serve, promoting a safer and more just society for all
## **Activities in the year to June 2022**
In January 2022 the charity took on our CEO, Laura Hunter. Entering the charity into a new phase of management and governance. At the end of the year, June 2022, the charity had three permanent part time staff with an open vacancy.
During the financial year FLAG DV received 687 referrals into the service, there were 1,040 children linked to the client referrals who were at immediate risk of being affected by parental domestic violence/abuse. 511 case referrals successfully engaged with the free legal advice service.
The charity successfully recruited 12 more solicitors to our probono clinics, increasing our service capacity by 48%. Further work into developing our CRM to allow for better collaborative working models has enabled us to sustain the service level increase with our small team, whilst maintaining a low waiting time for an appointment. Average wait for a legal advice appointment was 2 weeks from the receipt of the referral.
## **Principal Funding Sources**
2021 into 2022 FLAG DV secured further funding from the TVP Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Berkshire Community Foundation, National Lottery, Community Fund as well as the Southern Trust.
## **Future Plans**
FLAG DV has seen a 30% growth in referral demand to the service since the pandemic. Over the next year we will be focusing on ensuring growth is sustainable and increasing staff and volunteer capacity. We plan to expand our reach and impact by increasing our outreach efforts in the community and strengthen collaborative working with other organisations to provide a holistic approach to addressing
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domestic abuse. We aim to increase our resources and capacity, so that we can meet the growing demand for our services and provide more comprehensive legal advice and representation to those in need.
Additionally, since the beginning of 2020 our staff levels have doubled as did our operational infrastructure with the building of a new CRM system and VoIP service. This has significantly increased the financial admin workload and has put pressure on the newly appointed CEO and taking time away from governance. It has also had an impact for the Head of Operations who has seen a reduction in the time they are able to dedicate to line managing. As such the charity will be focusing on ways to mitigate these issues and allow their attention to be focused on the delivery of the service during this increase in growth and ensure that we focus on quality assurance. As such we the charity will be focused on recruiting an internal Finance Officer.
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## **BALANCE SHEET**
|**BALANCE SHEET**|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|
|||||Funds|Funds|Funds|
|||||Year to
30/6/22|Year to
30/6/22|Year to
30/6/22|
||**Incoming resources**||||||
|Donations and grants||||£1,439|£61,606|£63,045|
|Fundraising||||£18,632|£0|£18,632|
|Investment income||||£12|£0|£12|
|**Total incoming resources**||||**£20,083**|**£61,606**|**£81,689**|
||||||||
|Resources expensed|||||||
|Costs of generating voluntary income||||£0|£0|£0|
|Charitable activities||||£34,569|£55,919|£90,488|
|Governance costs||||£0|£0|£0|
|Total resources expended||||£34,569|£55,919|£90,488|
||||||||
|Net income for the year||||-£14,486|£5,687|-£8,799|
||||||||
|Total funds brought forward||||£35,142|£30,194|£65,336|
|**Total funds carried forward**||||**£20,656**|**£35,881**|**£56,537**|
||||||||
||||**Balance sheet**||||
||||Fixed Assets||||
|||Tangible Assets||||£0|
|||Investments||||£0|
|||**Current Assets**|||||
|||Stock||||£0|
|||Debtors||||£0|
|Cash at Bank and In Hand||||||£56,537|
|Creditors: amounts fallingdue within oneyear||||||£0|
|Net current assets||||||**£56,537**|
|Net Assets||||||**£56,537**|
|Made up of:|||||||
|Unrestricted Funds||||||£20,656|
|Restricted Funds||||||£35,881|
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|Total|||**£56,537**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||||
|**2. Donations and grants**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**TOTAL**|
|Boardman & Hawkins|£992||£992|
|Souter Trust||£4,000|£4,000|
|Arnold Clark||£1,000|£1,000|
|BCF - Enhancing Capacity||£4,940|£4,940|
|MOJ Uplift||£15,608|£15,608|
|MOJ - Critical Support||£15,608|£15,608|
|MOJ - MOJ DA Uplift||£5,790|£5,790|
|National Lottery - Community Fund 22||£9,980|£9,980|
|National Lottery - Places Called Home||£4,680|£4,680|
|Thames Valley Police Contract|£15,780||£15,780|
|Easy Fundraising|£1,034||£1,034|
|Other Fundraising|£10||£10|
|Legal Walk|£1,808||£1,808|
|Other donations (Including Raffle)|£447||£447|
|Interest|£12||£12|
|**Total**|**£20,083**|**£61,606**|**£81,689**|
|check|£0|£0|£0|
|3. Incoming Resources from Activities to further the||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Charities Objects|nil|nil|nil|
|||||
|**4. Total Resources Expended**||||
|Costs directly related to activities||||
|Insurance|||£380|
|Staff|||£56,051|
|Staff related expenses|||£3,396|
|Clinic expenses|||£10,173|
|Fund-raising expenditure|||£2,360|
|Rent, ICT, licence etc at BroadwayHouse|||£3,108|
|Software/Website/Phones/IT support|||£9,475|
|IT, Stationery and office goods|||£2,764|
|Governance|||£2,782|
||||**£90,489**|
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|5. Net Incoming Resources for the Year||||
|---|---|---|---|
|This is stated after charging:||||
|Depreciation||||
|Auditors' remuneration||||
|Salaries and wages|||£56,051|
|Social security costs||||
|Total|||£32,669|
|||||
|6. The average number of employees during the year,
calculated on the basis of full time equivalents was as
follows:||||
|Administration and Support - Removed for 20/21||||
|||||
|7. Trustee Remuneration and Related PartyTransactions||||
|No trustees received any remuneration during the year.||||
|No trustee or other person related to the charity had any
personal interest in any contract or transaction entered
into by the charity.||||
|||||
|8. Taxation||||
|As a charity FLAGDV is exempt from taxation. No tax
charges have arisen.||||
|||||
|9. Tangible fixed assets|||£0|
|10. Investments|||£0|
|11. Debtors|||£0|
|12. Creditors|||£0|
|13. Analysis of net assets between funds|||£0|
|Tangible fixed assets||||
|Investments||||
|Current assets|£20,656|£35,881|£56,537|
|Current liabilities||||
|Net assets|£20,656|£35,881|£56,537|
|||||
|14. Movements in funds||||
|Unrestricted funds||||
|At start of year|||£30,739|
|Incomingresources|||£20,083|
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|Outgoing resources|||£34,569|
|---|---|---|---|
|At end ofyear|||**£16,253**|
|||||
|Restricted funds||||
|Provision of legal advice to victims of domestic advice||||
|At start of year|||**£60,909**|
|Incomingresources|||£61,606|
|Outgoing resources|||£55,919|
|At end of year|||£66,596|
|||||
|Total funds|||**£82,849**|
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## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
## **Investment Policy**
Aside from retaining a prudent amount in reserves each year most of the charity’s funds are to be spent in the short term so there are no funds for long term investment.
## **Reserves Policy**
In accordance with our reserves policy, we will maintain adequate levels of reserves to cover our operating expenses for a period of at least three to six months. We will also establish a separate reserve fund for future capital expenditures or unexpected contingencies.
We are committed to sound financial management practices, including maintaining appropriate levels of reserves, and we will continue to ensure that our financial practices align with our overall mission and values.
## **Going concern**
After making appropriate enquiries, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
## **Future Developments**
The Charity will continue to look at diversifying its grant and fundraising efforts. To ensure growth is sustainable.
## **Statement of Trustees' responsibilities**
The Trustees (who are also the directors of the Charity for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles of the Charities SORP (FRS 102);
- make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards (FRS 102) have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
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- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charity's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
## **Disclosure of information to auditors**
Each of the persons who are Trustees at the time when this Trustees' report is approved has confirmed that:
- so far as that Trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charity's auditors are unaware, and
- that Trustee has taken all the steps that ought to have been taken as a Trustee in order to be aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity's auditors are aware of that information.
Approved by order of the board of trustees on 14/3/2023. and signed on its behalf by:
.................................................................
C Capel - Chair - Trustee
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## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT**
## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees of FLAG DV ('the Company')**
I can confirm that I have completed an independent examination of the financial statements for Free Legal Advice Group for Domestic Violence (Charity Number 1154070) for the year ended 30 June 2022.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011. I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out in line with the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission.
## **Independent examiner's statement**
My examination included a review of the accounting records of FLAGDV and a comparison to the accounts presented and prepared with those records. It also included consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and discussions with the Treasurer regarding the accounting records.
The review I have undertaken does not provide all the evidence which would be required for a full audit and as such I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.
In connection with my examination and the final balance as listed in the accounts of £56,537, I can confirm that no matter has come to my attention;
- a) Which gives me cause to believe that, in any material respect, the general requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with UK accounting principles have not been met.
- b) Which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Gillian Down
Bsc ACA
For E.J. Business Consultants Ltd 48 Registered Office: The Rectory
Newbury, RG14 1DY
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